The dust settles in my mind the gates stand open and there crowds existance a void of life
Facelessness opens wide the way and in drifts a void of life
Bringing with it the silence of sorrow and open wounds dripping on a world of white sheets

"A funeral service is a social function at which the deceased is the guest of honor and the center of attraction. ... A poorly prepared body in a beautiful casket is just as incongruous as a young lady appearing at a party in a costly gown and with her hair in curlers." --Frederick and Strub, "The Principles and Practices of Embalming"

I'll summarize for the benefit of old PFers who may or may not be reading this: The Plastic Factory went on permanent hiatus last spring, just after the 'defiling Barbra Streisand' episode, in which I appeared naked, humping a life-sized cardboard Barbra Streisand (which Dustin procured for me several years ago, so you also have him to thank for that atrocity).

I've recently begun developing two new strips, which Dustin may soon start posting:

- Las Vegas Dead: From the Files of the Clark County Coroner. Basically, this is pictures of unidentified corpses with a summary of the circumstances under which they were found (with the words rearranged in alphabetical order). It's kind of like poetry.

- G is for Jesus: What if Jesus were to come back as a gangsta (named G-zus)? Or what if the original Jesus had been a gangsta? So, it's a philosophical strip with strong religious implications. This strip also showcases my crappy drawing. Even so, G is for Jesus is far more likely to appear on my mother's refrigerator than Las Vegas Dead. (Currently, the only strip on my mother's refrigerator is one by Dustin. What's with that? How about my feelings, mom?)

(By the way, Dustin, don't post GIFJ05 ... it has an error ... I'll get you a new one later.)

I sent this email explaining how the new update process is going to work, and haven't heard back about it. Just wanted to make sure that was cool with you.

The gist of it is, I can't make the auto-update work for any comic in the sub-archives I set up (so far as I know), and so everything but Nikki is going to be more of an "all new strips go up when I get them" sort of thing. Then I stick a link to whatever is the most recent page at the top of that week's Nikki. So I could still do the alternating thing you wanted but with this design, it wouldn't make a huge difference. I was going to give them both their own archives, rather than throw them all in together.

Man, this is really a behind the scenes look at the rough and tumble development issues that all webcomics go through. I should be more dramatic. More intense.

Anywho, I can get that all thrown together either this week or next pretty easily. I just make some more directories and they're set.

Whew!

Also, I think I have a wardrobe malfunction of my own. My wardrobe doesn't seem to contain a single pair of thigh-high boots with six inch heels and buckles that go all the way down to the ankles. What on earth happened?

I would love to see either Las Vegas Dead or G is for Jesus up, for whatever my paltry opinion is worth.

Perhaps if you were trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible you should find someone whose drawings don't look like something out of Highlights (no offence intended) and go with G is for Jesus. Las Vegas Dead would probably creep out a large portion of the audience (Not that Jesus as a gangster wouldn't, or that the old PF strips didn't) but might age better than gangster Jesus.

Regardless of the implications of either strip, I would like to see both soon.

These "developement issues" are already more intense than the ones behind the scenes on my comic, but that's not saying much, as I've updated less than ten times in the two years since I got the space.

Once again, hoping I can improve my rating sometime in the next century, because I care about strange things like that.

You guys going to have a wedding reception or anything? I was thinking maybe I could drop by your place over spring break, which starts the weekend of March 8th. I'm going to be down that way as it is, to bring the Monte Carlo back up here.